


Not alone anymore

by Hawkeye_girl



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awesome Clint Barton, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Deaf Clint Barton, Depression, F/M, Humor, Hurt Clint Barton, I'll propably add other characters later, In case you hadn't noticed..., Kid Bruce Banner, Kid Fic, Kid Loki and Kid Thor (Marvel), Kid Pietro Maximoff, Kid Thor (Marvel), Kid Tony Stark, Kid Vision, Kid Wanda Maximoff, Neglect, PTSD Clint Barton, Pietro Maximoff & Wanda Maximoff - Freeform, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Poverty, Protective Avengers, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Natasha Romanov, Science Bros, The Avengers Need a Hug, marvel AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2019-10-05 01:39:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 13,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17315651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkeye_girl/pseuds/Hawkeye_girl
Summary: Clint Barton is an ex-soldier who lost his leg and his family after a bomb exploded in his house. Two years after this incident, he decides to adopt two kids. He is fast and she is weird and he loves them with all his heart. Also the red-headed girl who runs the orphanage is kinda super beautiful...I'LL PROBABLY MAKE CLINT ADOPT OTHER CHILDREN LATER SO LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS WHO YOU WANT HIM TO ADOPTEdit: this is only my second fanfic, i don't understand why people are loving it so much ???!!!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, I hope you will enjoy reading this fic as much as I enjoy writing it ! Please, leave a kudo if you liked it, and PLEASE LEAVE A COMENT !!!!! I reaaaaally want to improve my writing, so any kind of advice is welcomed !  
> Love you !  
> Hawkeye_girl

He remembered it perfectly. How everything had happened. He was in the kitchen, in his house, while Laura was putting Nathaniel into his bed and Lila and Cooper were playing happily in the living room. It took a second. Just a second for his whole life to collapse. Just like this. The bomb hidden in the basement had exploded, taking the lives of Laura, Cooper, Lila and Nathaniel Barton, on the night of the fifth of january 2017. Clint Barton had miraculously survived, but the explosion had destroyed his hearing, taken away one of his legs, and especially, his family. Without his hearing and his right leg, he was no longer considered able to stay in the US army, as the best sniper that the world would ever see.  
Whoever put the bomb in his house was never found. He destroyed everything that mattered to the American soldier: his job and his family. Clint Barton spent many weeks at the hospital, trying and wanting so desperately to get better, trying to get back in the army, to have a job that could keep his thoughts about his family away, so far away… But the doctors just gave him a plastic leg. What the hell was he supposed to do with this stupid plastic leg when all he cared about had vanished ?  
He had had many sessions with the army’s psychiatrist, talking about PTSD and all that stuff, but a bottle of whisky was the only thing that really helped Clint in feeling better. Of course, in the morning, he would get a headache but at least, for one night, he wouldn’t be seeing the explosion, happening, again and again, right in front of his eyes. He would just forget everything as he slowly passed away, to wake up a few hours later lying on the floor, his head spinning.  
Strangely, he was still able to do some things by himself, like taking a bath (once a week) or going to the store, to buy some food (and more whisky). One day, he was at a store, looking for his favorite drink, in his dirty clothes and unshaven, when he felt someone bumped into his left leg. He looked down to see a little girl with light brown hair and grey eyes. She was about eight years old and was wearing an old red leather jacket. There was a hole in one of her shoes. She met the ex-soldier’s eyes and blushed. She stuttered, looking at her feet:

“- I… I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t… I didn’t mean to disturb you…I didn’t see you and...”

She had a thick foreign accent, something who looked a lot like Russian. Barton tried to kneel down next to her, but his right leg didn’t comply and the veteran ended up sitting on the floor of the shop. The little girl looked a bit surprised but didn’t say anything and blushed even more.

“- Are you lost ?”, asked Clint in a gentle voice. For some reason, the little girl reminded him of Lila. At that thought, he felt a lump in his throat and his eyes started to water. He blinked away his tears, not wanting to break down in front of this cute little girl. He was pulled out of his thoughts when a young boy, who seemed the same age of the girl appeared at the end of the alley. He ran fastly towards Clint and the girl and put himself between the two persons, shielding her from an eventual threat coming from the veteran sitting on the ground.

“- Who are you and what are you doing with my sister ?” asked the young kid in an imperious tone. His blond hair was falling on his ears and his large blue eyes was casting a protective look towards the girl. His clothes were old too, too big for him. He wasn’t much taller than the girl but he seemed ready to die, or at least to fight for her.

“Just like Cooper”, thought Clint, feeling his tears coming back at light speed.

“- I’m not a threat, kiddo, I was just trying to know if your sister was okay. And even if I wanted too, I wouldn’t have been able to take her”, Barton stated pointing at his injured leg. The boy looked curiously at it and asked:

“- What happened to you ?” he asked with his big blue eyes.

The adult, still sitting on the ground, sighed:

“- That’s a long and pretty sad story, I don’t… I don’t think you want to hear it. I’m rather going to take you back home, okay ?”

“- Maybe you can tell us once we get to the orphanage ?” asked the girl in a shy voice, speaking for the first time.

The veteran looked at them, confused. “Orphanage ?” He slowly and carefully got back on his feet and asked, in a whisper:

“- You live in an orphanage ?”

The two kids nodded in perfect synchronisation. Clint felt his heart melting at that sight. The young kid took a step toward him and asked in a quiet voice, so quiet that the ex-sniper almost didn’t hear him:

“- Maybe… Maybe you can adopt us ?


	2. Chapter 2

Clint felt something warm in his chest as the boy looked at him with big pleading puppy eyes. He wanted so badly to hold the kid in his arms and tell him that everything was going to be okay. There were only two problems: first, it wasn’t his kid, and second, he wasn’t sure if his legs would accept this weight. The veteran hadn’t carried a child in his arms since… He shook his head, trying to focus on the present situation. He looked at the kids and smiled:

“- I’m going to take you back to your orphanage, okay ? And then we will see. Deal ?”

Saying that, he showed his right hand. The boy took it and shook it, still looking very serious. Barton almost laughed at that. He felt better. He hadn’t felt this happiness for years and now he realised how much he had missed it. He kept the boy’s hand in his own and reached for the little girl’s one. She didn’t hesitate since her brother seemed to trust the veteran. They all exited the store. Without the whisky Clint originally intended to buy.  
They were walking in the street when the boy started to explain:

“- It was our turn to go to the store today to get some food. Miss Romanov gave us a list and we got everything so Wanda asked if we could play hide and seek. That’s when we found you. I’m Pietro by the way.”

“- I’m Clint “, replied the soldier, smiling. He could see that the boy was carrying a bag full of food from the store. It looked heavy. Too heavy for a child like him. But Pietro wasn’t complaining and kept walking. Wanda suddenly said:

“- You know, it would be great if you could adopt us. I heard Miss Romanov once and she said that we didn’t have enough money to stay in the building until the end of the year. If you took us, they wouldn’t have to worry about us anymore.”

“- Wanda, I already told you to stop worrying about that. The adults will find a way to keep us safe. Because that’s what adults do, right Sir ? Adults are supposed to keep children safe ?

Clint was left breathless for a few seconds. The boy reminded him so much of Cooper, trying to reassure his little sister. But then the soldier realised what the kid had told him. “Adults are supposed to keep children safe.” Yes, they were. But he had failed. He hadn’t protected his own children. He gulped with difficulty and answered, not meeting the kids’ eyes:

“- Yes. Yes, they are.”

“- Do you have children ?” asked Wanda in a quiet voice, as if she knew. As she could feel that the soldier was hurting.

“- I… I had kids once. Three. But they are dead now.”

Clint felt the hold on his left hand tightening, as if Wanda was trying to reassure the adult. However, the hold on his right hand disappeared. Pietro had released the soldier’s hand and was looking at him in a suspicious way.

“- What happened to them ? And what happened to you ?” he asked.

“-Someone put a bomb in my basement. Nobody knows who. It killed my entire family. I also lost a leg and my hearing…” sighed the veteran, pointing at his leg, then at his ears. The kids noticed a strange thing inside of the adult’s ears’. 

“- I have hearing aids and a plastic leg to replace the real one. But it didn’t really help. It still lost my job as a soldier…” explained Clint.

“- You were a soldier ?” repeated Pietro, getting further away from Clint.

“-Yes”, answered Barton tiredly. “The authorities think that whoever put that bomb inside of our house was someone from a foreign country that I fought against. I was responsible of many missions and maybe someone holds a grudge against me because of one of these missions. That’s the only explanation I could think of.”

“- You were a soldier”, said Pietro again, not able to register that information. He suddenly yelled: “OUR PARENTS WERE KILLED BY SOLDIERS, YOU SON OF A…”

“- Pietro !” interrupted Wanda. “Watch your language !”

“- You speak just like Steve”, spat the boy with contempt to his sister. “Do you know he wants to be a soldier too ?”

“- Steve can be whoever he wants to be. He is a good person. And maybe Clint is a good person too. Give him his chance. Not every soldier is like the ones who killed our parents.”

Pietro seemed to think about those words and he took several deep breaths, trying to calm down. He turned back towards Barton to apologise:

“- I’m sorry. I overreacted.”

“- That’s okay, buddy”, answered Clint gently. “It’s normal to be mad at the ones who hurt your parents. But I’m not the one who did it, okay ?”

The blue-eyed kid simply nodded, taking the soldier’s hand again. He pointed his finger toward a rusted portal at the end of the street. The left door was hanging on its hinges, slightly squeaking. Clint could hear children playing and yelling inside.

“- That’s the orphanage. That’s where we live”, explained the boy, pushing the portal and taking Barton inside.


	3. Chapter 3

The two kids, still holding the veteran’s hands, walked inside of the playground. The building looked like an old, abandoned school. Clint looked around him. Several kids were playing with what seemed to be an old soccer ball.

“- We found it in a trash can, a few months ago, when we were getting back from the store”, explained Pietro happily and looking very proud of himself.

Clint looked at the boy in disbelief. He looked so enthusiastic about playing football with this thing. Pietro quickly released the soldier’s hand, gave his bag to the adult and ran as fast as he could (which was very fast, Clint noticed) toward the group of kids.

“-Letmeplayletmeplayletmeplay !!!”

The kid quickly took possession of the ball from a tall guy with long blond hair and large shoulders. He seemed to be ten, maybe eleven, and definitely not happy to have lost the ball.

“- Pietro !”, he yelled. “Come back here !”

“- You’ll have to catch me, Thor !”yelled back the boy, provoking the other one.

The kid named Thor immediately started running, but his muscled arms were no use against Pietro’s fast legs. The eldest quickly stopped the chasing as Pietro threw the ball between two backpacks who were supposed to figure a goalpost. The goalkeeper dived, but not quickly enough.

“-GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAL !!!”

Barton just stayed still, shocked by how fast the kid could run. With a bit of training, this kid could participate in competitions. He suddenly realised that Wanda was pulling on his sleeve.

“- Miss Romanov is probably in her office. Do you want me to take you to her office so you can adopt Pietro and me ?”

The girl looked so innocent and confident that Clint felt his heart melting again. He smiled (he had never smiled that much in one single day since the incident and it started to feel really weird) and asked Wanda to lead him to the lady’s office.  
They got inside the building and walked through a classroom. Two boys were leaning forward a desk, their backs hiding what they were doing. When they heard someone coming, they quickly turned around. Clint then saw that the kids were working on a small generator that was obviously handmade. But the kids looked like they were around twelve years old. They were both brown and with brown eyes. One of them had crooked glasses and a purple shirt. The other one wore an old Black Sabbath t-shirt and his hair was tousled like he had run his hand through it many times.

“- Hi Bruce, hi Tony”, just said Wanda, as if it was totally normal for two twelve years-old kids to be working on a generator. “Is Miss Romanov in her office ?”

“- Hi Wanda, hello Sir”, replied the kid with the tousled hair. “Yeah, she is chatting with Big Chin.”

“- That’s not nice to say that”, pointed out the girl. “Where is Vis ?”

“- That may be not nice but he definitely has a big chin…”, replied the kid, focused on putting a piece in the right place. “Your boyfriend is helping us in trying to find new pieces for our future rocket !”

Wanda blushed furiously:

“- He is NOT my boyfriend !”

“-Well, he is the only one here with Pietro who doesn’t think you’re weird…”

“- Tony !” exclaimed the boy in the purple shirt, who had been watching the whole conversation without speaking. “You know that’s not true ! You’re just mad that an eight years-old boy like Vision is just as good as you with computers…”

“- Yeah, well this guy spends so much time with these computers that he might as well be one of them.”, responded Tony.

Wanda held tightly Clint’s hand:

“- Come with me, Sir. Miss Romanov is talking to Mr Thanos, the owner of this building. It shouldn’t be long before they are done.”

The soldier obediently followed the girl, leaving the two boys alone. They arrived a few minutes later in front of the door. You could read “Headmaster Thanos” on it.

“- Mr Thanos is a very nice man who is letting us live in his former school”, explained Wanda in a whisper, not to disturb the people in the room. “He comes often here to see if we are happy and to collect the money from Miss Romanov.”

At that moment, the door flung open. Clint could only see the back of the man holding it, but judging by his body language, he looked very, very angry. Facing him was a woman, looking terribly angry too. Her wonderful shining blue eyes could have burnt a hole in the man’s chest if they had been weapons and her glorious red hair was like fire in Clint’s eyes.  
The man, not noticing he had now an audience, kept talking:

“- And if you don’t pay me everything you owe me at the end of the year, I’m taking back the building ! I don’t care about these children, they’ll find somewhere else to go !”

“They are orphans.”, replied calmly the red-headed girl, but with a ferocious look in her eyes. “They have nowhere to go.”

“- If their parents didn’t want to keep them, then why should I ?”, questioned the man before turning back. He then bumped into Clint, who almost fell to the ground. Because of his injured leg, he had a far less good balance than a normal person. Fortunately, he managed to put a hand on a wall next to him and to maintain his position. He then noticed that the guy who pushed him indeed had a big chin. His small eyes were vicious and for a second, they stopped on Clint’s face, studying it. Then, he quickly walked past him, without a look for Wanda, or an apology for the veteran.

“- I’m very sorry, Mister…?”, declared the red-headed girl.

“- Barton. Clint Barton”, said Clint, not able to keep his eyes away from this beautiful woman.

“- May I help you Mister Barton ?”

“- Oh, yeah, right ! Uh… I was…”

The veteran felt Wanda small hand squeezing his nervously.

“- I… I want to adopt kids !”


	4. Chapter 4

The red-headed girl had a small smile and Clint felt his heart exploding as he kept staring at her.

“- I’m going to talk to Mr Barton, Wanda. Could you leave us for a moment, please ?”, asked the woman in a gentle voice, much nicer than the one she had used against this guy named Thanos.

The little girl nodded quickly and squeezed the soldier’s hand (that she hadn’t let go since they left the store) one last time and left the room without any other word. The older woman opened his mouth, but before she could say anything, Wanda popped his head from behind the door and said:

“- He wants to adopt Pietro and me. He is very nice and he is a soldier and I really like him and I would be really happy if he…”

“- Wanda, we are going to discuss all this, Mr Barton and I”, interrupted Miss Romanov.

The brunette nodded again and left for good this time. The woman chuckled and whispered to herself:

“- They are so cute…”

“- Yes, they are”, sighed Clint, also lost in his thoughts.

Realising that she wasn’t alone in her office, Miss Romanov turned around and asked:

“- So. You would like to adopt Pietro and Wanda Maximoff ?”

“- If… If that’s possible, then yes.”, stuttered the veteran.

“- Well, it’s all up to you, Mr Barton. I will just have to do some checkings first. We don’t want these amazing kids to end up in abusive or too poor families, do we ?”

Clint’s heart sank when he thought about all the empty bottles of whisky lying all over the floor of his house. His furniture was covered in dust and it probably smelled musty… The soldier cleared his throat.

“- Yeah, sure !”, he said hesitantly. “I want what’s best for them.”

And he meant it. He truly wanted Pietro and Wanda to be happy. But even if it meant not taking them with him ? The veteran wasn’t sure about that… Today he had felt happier than he had ever been since the incident, and it was thanks to these kids. He so desperately didn’t want to be alone. Not anymore…

“- Mr Barton ? Are you okay ?”

Clint jumped when he realised that the woman was talking to him. And he suddenly understood what had worried her. A tear was running on his cheek. Mad at himself for having let his guard down in front of a stranger, he quickly wiped the tear away before declaring:

“- I’m fine. I’m totally fine.”

The red-haired girl didn’t seem convinced but she carried on with her questions:

“- Wanda said you are a soldier ? Does that mean you will be away during your missions ? Will you have someone to take care about them ? Your wife maybe ?”

Saying that, she pointed to the man’s wedding ring.

“- I can see that you are married.”

Barton cleared his throat again:

“-I’m...not married anymore. She is dead. My children too.”

“- Oh God, I’m sorry… I didn’t know…”

“- It’s okay, I just... “ Clint gulped with difficulty. “I just miss them very much…”

None of them spoke for a few seconds, then Clint declared abruptly:

“- And, for your other question: I was a soldier, yes. But that’s no longer true. I had to leave the army when I got injured…”

He tapped his right leg to illustrate his words. The sound of flesh hitting plastic resonated faintly through the room.

“- I have the military pension, and sometimes I work at the garage to make some money, but that doesn’t take me long, just a few hours a week, since the pension is quite nice. So, I’m going to be 100% available for the kids ! Well, except for when they will want to play football !”, Clint tried to joke. But it sounded weird, even to his own ears.

Miss Romanov had a sympathetic smile before explaining:

“- I don’t know about Pietro, but Wanda seems to genuinely like you. So, here’s the deal: I will come to your place on Saturday, and we will see if it’s a good place for kids. Okay ?”

We were on Monday, which meant Clint had five days to get rid of all the bottles, clean up the house and especially, get rid of that hole in the roof of Cooper’s room ! He had repaired the house after the incident, not wanting to leave it, but he hadn’t fixed that hole, since no one slept in that room anyway.

“Well, that’s going to change !”, thought Clint, determined to do everything he could to make the kids happy.

“- Okay”, declared the soldier. “See you on Saturday.”

“- YEAAAAH !!!!! WE ARE GOING TO BE ADOPTED !!!!!”

“- Pietro”, sighed the woman, as if she was used to see the boy running around her desk every day. “Get out of my office… And stop eavesdropping...”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry guys, exams period so it took me a while to write this chapter. Also, sorry that it isn't really long but I swear, I'll do better next time.  
> Please, if you like this work, leave a kudo, and PLEASE leave a comment, it's really important for me to improve my writing.  
> I love you.  
> Hawkeye_girl

Half an hour later, Clint Barton pushed the front door of his house. He immediately felt the smell. A mix of alcohol, sweat and dust. He couldn’t live like that. Not anymore, when he was about to have two kids at his home. He felt his heart tightening. What if he wasn’t responsible enough to welcome these children home ? He was a drunk ex-soldier with PTSD, how could any of that work ? The soldier’s eyes fell on a picture on the chimney. It was a photo of Laura, smiling and holding a baby. It was Cooper, their first kid. The sniper gently wiped away the dust on the frame. He then noticed a bottle of whisky, on the ground. It was still full. But Clint shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He couldn’t let himself drinking. If he did… If he did, he wouldn’t do anything until tomorrow, except lying on the floor, crying and holding pictures of dead people. It wouldn’t do any good to him. So he picked up the bottle. And suddenly threw it against the wall.  
The veteran stood there for a few minutes, in the middle of the living room, feeling his heart racing and staring at the broken glass and at the spilled drink. Anger. He felt pure, blank anger. Well, better be angry and do something rather than crying and doing nothing. He was mad at himself for living this way, for not taking care of himself, for being a drunk. For being weak. Laura and the kids would have been so ashamed of him…  
He noticed other bottles, lying on the floor. He picked them up. All, one by one. And threw them against the walls. Why Laura, Cooper, Lila, Nathaniel ? Why them ? WHY NOT HIM ? It was unfair ! The soldier wanted to scream, but no sound escaped his throat as he collapsed in his armchair, clenching his fists. It was unfair…  
He looked at the picture again. Laura was smiling. She was happy. He could still hear her laugh. Clint closed his eyes for a few seconds, trying to calm down. He remembered suddenly Pietro and Wanda’s faces when Miss Romanov had told them that she was going to see if Barton could be a good adoptive parent. They had looked so happy and so full of hope. The veteran quickly got out of his armchair. Too quickly. His plastic leg twisted and he fell to the ground, where there was still all the broken glass. He gritted his teeth, trying not to scream as glass penetrated his left knee. He got up carefully, walking toward the bathroom. As an ex-soldier, he knew how to treat “small” injuries like that on his own. He grabbed his first-aid kit and tweezers. He then proceeded in taking out every piece of glass from his knee. He had to take care of his leg, he couldn’t live a normal life with two injured legs. Once he was done, he washed the injury and began to put stitches on the injury. As slowly as he could, he then returned back in the living room. Falling on the glass had hurt like hell, but it had had a good side: it had cleared Clint’s mind.  
Taking a decision, the soldier grabbed a broom and began the cleaning of the floor of the room.. Pietro and Wanda would come to the house. Miss Romanov would see that Clint was a grown man perfectly capable of taking care of himself. The kids were going to live, happily, with the veteran.  
He took the picture of his wife and, holding it with both of his hands, he tenderly pressed a kiss on the woman’s forehead.

“- Hey honey”, he whispered with tears in his eyes. “I’m back. No more alcohol. That’s a promise.”

Gulping, he put the picture back on the chimney and kept on sweeping the floor. And a quarter of an hour later, Barton was putting all the broken glass into the trash can. The soldier realised that the house still smelled alcohol. He then grabbed the curtains, who were usually always closed, and pushed them aside. He opened the window and suddenly, a wave of fresh air invaded the house. A ray of sun fell on the frame on the chimney, making Laura’s smile even brighter. Clint took a deep breath, enjoying the view of his garden. How could he have lived without seeing it for all this time ?  
He turned around and looked around. He had still a lot of work to do to welcome the kids. His kids. He shook his head. They weren’t his. Not yet. But he would do anything for them to be happy with him. So he grabbed his broom again. And walked toward the stairs.  
On his way, he took his box with tools, and then started to climb the stairs, slowly. Because of that stupid leg, he had to go step by step, taking his time. When he finally got upstairs, he felt his throat tightening. He hadn’t been upstairs since the incident and everything was a mess. So he started sweeping. During this activity, he walked in front of Cooper’s room. He opened the door and stepped into the bedroom. Raising his eyes, he saw that the hole was still there, in the ceiling. Well, of course it was still there, what did you expect Clint ? That it would just go away ? Like your grief ?  
The veteran stopped his thinking and grabbed his son’s chair to place it right under the hole. Cautiously, he climbed it, slightly groaning because of his left knee. When he finally managed to stand on the chair, he began working. It felt so weird, being in his dead son’s room, so Clint tried not to think about it. But it was hard, seeing all the posters about soccer on the wall. The pictures were nearly fully erased but Barton had seen them so many times with his son that he had no problem remembering what they were once like.  
Half an hour later, the soldier’s legs started to protest. The veteran came down of his chair and sat on it, sighing. He had done a lot of things today. He wasn’t used to that anymore. Maybe a bottle of… No. No bottle. Clint look at his watch. It was late. Time to sleep. He would continue the cleaning of the house tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Leave kudos and comments if you like this story, and please tell me if you want Clint to adopt other kids or if he should stick with Pietro and Wanda !  
> Love you  
> Hawkkeye_girl

Clint woke up. He had been sleeping in his bed. Well, that was unusual, he usually woke up on the floor or, in his better days, on the couch. The sniper looked at his alarm clock. It was 7 in the morning. That was unusual too, he never woke up before 10 usually. But suddenly he remembered: it was Saturday. Miss Romanov was coming today, to his house, to see if Barton would be a good father for Pietro and Wanda. He had to sit for a few minutes, taking deep long breaths. He was going to adopt two kids. He had a second chance. Maybe this time he wouldn’t screw everything up.  
He carefully got out of bed and headed for the bathroom. Half an hour later, he was shaven, fully dressed, in his nicest clothes, ready to welcome the responsible of the orphanage. She was supposed to come at 11, so he had plenty of time in front of him. He tried to sit in his armchair, reading a book, but his mind couldn’t focus on the words he was reading. He put the book back in his place and started pacing in his living room. But he had to stop when his left leg started to get tired. The veteran fell back in his armchair, taking the book again. But there was no point, he just couldn’t think of anything else than the kids and the pretty woman. Wait… Pretty ? No, not at all. He didn’t have any feeling for the red-haired girl. Nope.  
Instead of sitting in his living room, the soldier decided that he would wait outside, in his garden, that he had rediscovered a few days ago. He sat in his old rocking chair and watched the nature waking up peacefully. The kids would love the garden. They would have plenty of space to run and hide. The house was going to be animated again.  
He probably fell asleep for a moment because a few minutes later, he heard the engine of a car and saw the vehicle parking in front of the house. Miss Romanov got out of the vehicle and headed toward the house. The veteran stood up, in order to welcome the woman. His muscles were still sore, due to all the effort the ex-soldier had made in the last couple of days in order to make the house a better place to live in.

“- Hello Miss Romanov. It’s a pleasure to see you !” genuinely declared Clint as he shook the woman’s hand.

“- It’s a pleasure to see you too, Mr Barton. But please, call me Natasha.” replied the red-haired girl.

Clint was left breathless for a moment, stunned by the beauty of the woman standing in front of him. Then he realised that she was waiting for him to say something. Blushing, he stuttered:

“-Um… You… You can call me Clint too. Uh… Come inside, I’ll show you the house !”

Miss Romanov followed the man inside. She seemed surprised to see the house so clean and so tidy. She turned around to see a very nervous Clint Barton.

“- So…” he started. “Are they going to come here ?”

Natasha stared at him for a moment then declared:

“- You know, Clint, when I first saw you at the orphanage, you were in dirty clothes, not shaven and smelling whisky, I honestly thought that your house would be in a complete mess… But here you are, well dressed, shaven, and I do not see a single bottle of alcohol in the house.”

Clint took a deep breath. He had to tell her the truth so that she had all the elements in hand to make her decision.

“-Well… Natasha… The truth is… When I met Wanda and Pietro at the store the other day, I was looking for whisky. I was a drunk man with PTSD. I still have PTSD but it has been five days since I drank a bottle of alcohol. Here is a letter from my psychiatrist proving it. I cleaned up my house and I quit drinking for these kids.I’m willing to do anything for them to be happy.”

The veteran had spoken really quickly, fearing the interruption of the red-headed woman. Once he was done, Natasha stared at the man, in deep thoughts, then read the letter.

“- Do you think you are responsible enough to take the responsibility of two kids, Clint ?” she asked abruptly.

The man thought for a moment. Then he looked up to meet the woman’s eyes.

“- I managed to stay away from alcohol for five days for these kids. I would do anything for them. I swear.”

Natasha smiled a bit. She seemed to trust the veteran, who let out a big sigh of relief.

“- I believe you, Clint. But I’m still going to come every week for two months to see if the kids are okay with you.”

“- Wait… You mean… Does that mean…”

“- Yes” answered the woman laughing. “That means I think you can adopt Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. You can come and take them tomorrow, when we will sign the adoption papers. Congratulations Clint.”

Barton stood still, his mouth wide open as his heart was seemingly trying to get out of his chest. It took him a moment to recover.

“- Th… Thank you, Natasha… Oh my God… Wait, I’m going to take you back to your car.”

“- No need” smiled the woman. “I know the way. But thank you.

And with a last handshake, the two persons separated. For a few minutes, Clint stood in the middle of his living room. Then suddenly, all of his joy exploded, all at once.

“- YEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAW !!! I’m going to be a daddy !”

As fast as he could, he walked toward the chimney and took the picture of Laura.

“- I’m going to be a daddy. Again ! Can you believe that ?”

The veteran let out a laugh, the first one since two years.

“-I’m going to be a daddy” he whispered one last time, kissing the photo.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I made a long chapter !  
> Tell me if you want Clint to adopt other kids in the comments, or just tell me if you like this story !  
> Don't forget to leave kudos too :D  
> Hawkeye_girl

Clint Barton couldn’t believe it. He was getting inside of the orphanage, to adopt two kids, his kids ! On his way to Natasha’s office, he noted that a boy with long brown hair was staring at the window.

“- Um…” quietly said the soldier. “Hey ?”

The kid jumped and turned around, widening his big grey eyes. Clint noticed that the child’s left sleeve seemed empty, as if… As if he didn’t have a left arm… When he saw the man standing in front of him, the boy started to scream, looking truly terrified.

“- Wait, it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you !” the sniper tried to explain. He started reaching for the boy, but stopped. He didn’t want to frighten the kid, who was now curled up in a ball, even more… Barton suddenly heard people running in the corridor. Miss Romanov stormed in and rushed toward the kid, who didn’t try to get free of her hold.

“-Hey, Bucky, it’s okay, you are safe. You are safe here. I promise. You are safe…” the red-haired woman said in a soothing tone, stroking the kid’s hair.

Once the kid had finally calmed down, he quickly got out of the room, avoiding the veteran’s sharp eyes. Clint was still shaken up by what had just happened. Hearing the kid’s screams had reminded him of one night, when Lila had had a nightmare about her dad being killed during one of his missions. She had screamed like she had been tortured herself. It had haunted the veteran’s nights for weeks. And it turned out that Clint had been the one to survive while Lila had died… Barton shook his head and came back to the present.

“- I’m sorry” he started to explain. “ I didn’t want to scare him, I just wanted to ask if you were in your office…”

“-It’s okay, you couldn’t have known.” replied Natasha with a weak smile. “Bucky watched his parents die right in front of him. And when they were done with the adults, the murderers started to torture the kid. For fun… They were true psychopaths. They hurt him so badly that when the paramedics arrived, they couldn’t save his left arm. Or what was left of it.”

The woman was shaking with anger as she told that story through gritted teeth. Once she finished it, she seemed lost in her memories, completely forgetting that she was with Clint. But then she raised her head and met the soldier’s eyes.

“- He has PTSD and trust issues now. It took me three months to get him to talk and six to accept physical contact from people he knows. But he still has trouble staying calm when he sees people he doesn’t know… As you were able to see…”

Clint thought about what he had just heard: this kid was so much like him… He had lost his whole family, had PTSD and had lost a body limb… The veteran got out of his thoughts when he heard two persons running in the corridor.

“- I told you I heard his voice !”

“-Well, personally, I especially heard Bucky screaming, but if you say so…”

Pietro and Wanda came running into the room, each of them carrying a backpack, like they were ready to go on a picnic. Watching them, the adults smiled. The kids looked adorable. Suddenly, Wanda ran towards the veteran and put her arms around his waist.

“- I’m so happy to see you Sir !” she declared, hugging Clint. “I told you I had heard his voice !” she said to her brother, turning her head.

“- Yeah, well I believed you, I took my bag too !” replied the boy. “Hi Sir. I’m happy to see you too.”

“- Hey guys !” greeted Clint with a wink. “We are going to be a great family, I’m sure of that !”

“- Maybe we could continue this conversation in my office ?” asked Natasha. “We will sign the papers, and I have some things to tell you.”

“-Yeah, sure. I’ll be right back, kiddos !”

Wanda reluctantly let the man go as he followed the lady to her office. Once they got inside, Miss Romanov closed the door and sat down, inviting the sniper to do the same. She took her time before speaking, but then she opened her mouth:

“- There are a few things I haven’t told you about Pietro and Wanda.” 

Seeing the man tensing, she quickly added:

“- Don’t worry, it’s nothing too bad. But you need to know. Okay, I don’t know if you have noticed but kids here are a bit...special…”

“- Yeah, like the two kids who are building a rocket in a classroom ?” interrupted Clint, half-laughing, half-amazed.

“-Tony and Bruce… Yes, they have an IQ far above the average one… And, you know, there are bad effects if you have an IQ higher than the average: you are more likely to have depression, to use of drugs, or to have self-harm thoughts,... So sometimes, parents don’t keep the kids, not knowing how to deal with them…”

Natasha paused, taking her breath. Clint, getting a little worried, asked suddenly:

“- Is there something wrong with Pietro and Wanda ?”

“- No ! Yes… Well, I don’t know, it’s up to you to decide if it’s wrong or not… Wanda doesn’t suffer from anything in particular. But she… She feels people. Like...like you feel sad and you don’t show it, but she will come anyway to give you a hug… Sometimes it feels really weird, especially to people who are not used to it.”

Clint nodded, remembering how he had had that feeling when he had talked to Wanda in the store and back to the orphanage.

“- And Pietro ?”

“- Pietro… Pietro has ADHD. He suffers from hyperactivity. He is easily distracted, is constantly in movement and has an impulsive and sometimes aggressive behavior…”

The soldier took a moment to think. It was going to be a great responsibility to take these two kids home with him. But he had noticed how Wanda seemed to be calming his brother every time she was near him. Clint had the feeling that if the kids were together, then nothing too bad could happen.

“- I’m here to adopt kids, I can’t go back without them !” joked Barton. “Don’t worry, it’s not a problem for me, I’ll take care of them.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guuuuuuuys !!!!! I'm still alive !  
> Sorry it's been sooooo long, but I'm having so much work these days... Anyway, here you go, new chapter.  
> Leave a kudo if you liked it, and leave a comment to help me improve my writing !  
> Love you !!!  
> Hawkeye_girl

The ride back to Clint’s house was rather peaceful. The kids were quietly looking at the landscape, while the soldier was driving his car, adapted especially for him… Okay, honestly, it was a bit more noisy than that… In fact, Pietro was happily kicking the passenger seat -fortunately empty- while yelling at the top of his lungs:

“- Weareadoptedweareadoptedweareadoptedweareadopted !”

Wanda didn’t really seem bothered by the noise, as if she was used to it. She had found a piece of paper and a red pen on the floor of the car and, after asking politely the veteran if she could take them, she had started drawing.  
Clint, on the other hand, wasn’t used to so much noise and he was pretty sure his hearing aids were sizzling. He nearly turned them off, before realising that if he did and something wrong happened, the kids would have no way to warn him, since he was definitely absolutely, completely deaf, and the children were behind him. So he tried another strategy:

“- Hey, Pietro ?”, he asked, loud enough to be heard. When he saw he had the kid’s attention, he continued. “Do you want to listen to some music ?”

Seeing the kid nodding excitingly, Clint pushed a few buttons on the car radio. A calm, soothing song escaped from the radio. Notes were filling the car when suddenly, Clint felt his eyes starting to water again.  
It was their song.  
It was Laura’s favourite song. The soldier had proposed to Laura while this song was played in the background, on the radio. They had listened to it countless times… Nearly every day until…

“- Dad ? Are you alright ?”

“- I’m okay Lila, it’s nothing.”

“- I’m not Lila, Dad… I’m Wanda !”

Barton broke out from daydreaming. He blinked quickly, chasing the tears away and getting his focus back on the road. Dammit, he had to focus ! He had been lucky they were alone on a straight road, but he couldn’t allow himself to get that distracted while he was behind the wheel, with two kids in the car ! He was still cursing at himself when he realised:

“- Wanda… What did you call me ?”

The little girl seemed a bit confused for a minute, but she answered confidently:

“- I called you Dad. You adopted us, so you are our Dad, right ? You don’t want to be called Dad ?”

Clint looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror, not knowing what to say. He hadn’t been called Dad for more than a year. It felt so strange now, to be called Dad, by someone who wasn’t your child. Not your genetical child. He wasn’t ready for this.

“- You can call me Clint”, answered the soldier, a bit more harshly than what he firstly intended, while cutting off the radio.

The brunette eyes started to water, hearing that sentence. She lowered her head, hiding her face. Seeing her sister was upset, Pietro quickly grabbed her hand and whispered, as to be heard only by her:

“- I’m sure he is just not sure about how to feel right now. Not calling him Dad doesn’t mean he doesn’t love us like Dad loved us.”

“- Maybe he doesn’t love us.”, whispered Wanda, her voice slightly shaking.

“- If he didn’t love us, he wouldn’t have adopted us.” reassured the blue-eyed kid, trying to look more confident than he actually was.

“- Can we put the song back on ?” asked the boy, trying to lighten the mood.

“-No.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. I'm so sorry, it's been such a long time since I updated this work. But... Well, I fell into depression, and it's been really hard for me to write in the last month... I'm really sorry, and I don't know when I will post another chapter. But here you go ! Leave a kudo and tell me what you thought about this chapter.  
> Love you  
> Hawkeye_girl

They arrived quickly at the house. The rest of the ride had been silent. Clint parked the car, still more or less lost in his thoughts. Hearing that song had completely messed up his brain and he needed to take a few minutes to get a hold back on his emotions. He was cut out of his thoughts when he heard Pietro yelling enthusiastically:

“- A trampoline ! This place is SO cool !”

The boy quickly got out of the car, and before Clint had time to say anything at all, the kid was jumping up and down. Wanda carefully looked at the veteran before asking politely:

“- Can I please get out of the car and play with Pietro, Da...sir ?”

Barton stared blankly at the girl for a few minutes that seemed an eternity to Wanda. But finally, the sniper nodded. The brunette quickly ran toward his brother while Clint carefully got out of the car and headed for his house. He had to prepare the lunch for the kid. But what was he going to prepare ? He was pretty sure there was close to nothing in his fridge. He could order pizza for now, the kids would probably like that, but he couldn’t do that every time. He would have to go buy some food in the afternoon. And he would also buy some clothes for the kids. They couldn’t stay dressed like that, with worn out clothes and old shoes. They would need some decent clothes.  
Once the soldier was in the kitchen, he grabbed his phone and dialed the number. Less than half an hour later, the pizzas arrived. Pietro and Wanda probably heard the motorcycle of the pizza man, because they came running toward the house.

“- HUNGRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY !!!”, simply yelled the boy, while Wanda looked at her brother, a smile on her face.

Clint’s expression soften a bit at the sight of these two adorable children. His children. He showed the box of pizzas, before declaring:

“- How about we get into the house and have lunch ?”

“-YEEEEES !!!”, yelled Pietro as he ran into the house.

God, was the kid incapable of simply walking ? But then Barton remembered Natasha’s words. Hyperactivity. Well, he hoped that the kid was not going to run too far away, because the sniper would have a hard time trying to catch the boy…  
On the contrary, like a complete opposite of her twin, Wanda calmly entered the house and headed toward the kitchen. Clint let out a sigh of relief. At least, Wanda seemed to be a calm girl. Cooper and Lila had always been very calm children and the veteran was not used to that much activity in one single person…  
He entered the house too, and found the kids, already sitting around the table in the kitchen, waiting for their meal. Clint stopped for a minute. This vision was too familiar. Copper and Lila, sitting, waiting, while Laura was going to walk through the door in a minute to sit with them once she had put Nathaniel into his bed.

“- Sir…? Are you okay ?”

Clnt raised his head and furiously wiped away the tear on his cheek. This had to stop ! He put a smile on his face and said to the girl:

“- I’m… I’m fine, Wanda…”

“- You don’t seem so fine, sir…”

The soldier looked at Pietro who had just spoken.

“- I swear I’m fine”, Barton tried to joke. “And… You… You can call me Clint if you want. It’s weird when you call me sir, right ?”

The two kids nodded quickly. The whole room stayed silent for a moment until Clint realized he still had the box with the pizzas in his hand and that they were probably getting cold. He quickly put two slices in two plates and put them in front of the children. They immediately started eating, as if they had not been fed for a month at least. Clint chuckled a bit at that thought, but then he remembered what Wanda had told him, about the orphanage being really poor. The kids probably didn’t have enough to eat… The soldier looked around him. After all, this house was big enough to welcome a few more kids...


	10. Chapter 10

Clint woke up. Something was wrong. He could sense it. He could see between the curtains that it was still nighttime. So why was he awake ? In a swift movement he put on his hearing aids. That’s when he heard it. Someone was screaming. One of the kids, and apparently it was from the room right above him. Wanda. The veteran was about to get out out of his bed, when the screams suddenly stopped. Well, that was strange… Barton slowly raised his hand and touched his hearing aids. Normally, he would hear that sound that looked like someone was blowing in a microphone. But nothing happened. The batteries were dead.  
Great…  
Clint got out of bed and decided to look for other batteries later. First, he had to make sure Wanda was okay. He took the stairs, step by step, cursing at his goddamn leg. When he finally got upstairs, he found Wanda’s door open and the light was on. When he arrived, he saw that the little girl was sniffling in her brother’s arms, who was (apparently) saying soothing words, and rubbing a hand on his sister’s back. The soldier’s heart melted and he got into the room.

“- Hey kids.”, he said, without being able to hear his own voice. “Everything okay ?”

He almost slapped himself.. Everything okay ? Seriously Clint ? Five minutes ago, Wanda was screaming at the top of her lungs and you are asking if everything is okay ? What an idiot…  
The two kids noticed the man in the room. They both started talking at the same time, and to any other person, it would have been impossible to understand a single thing. But Clint was currently deaf and he could lip-read. Since Wanda was still sniffling while talking, Clint chose to focus on Pietro who was the calm one (how extraordinary).

“- … sleeping… heard Wanda… nightmare… parents… Sokovia…” was all Clint understood.

But it was enough for the adult to get that the brunette had a nightmare where she had seen her parents being murdered -again- right in front of her. Clint knew this feeling. Nights without nightmares were so rare for him. Except with whisky…. The drink took his brain to another place. A place without violence, without murder, a place without the war he had seen and lived, a place without the loss of his family. Just a numbing place. An empty place. Empty from any feeling, any emotion.  
The ex-soldier suddenly felt someone shaking his arm. He looked down and met Pietro’s angry face.

“- ...listening ? …you deaf ?”

Clint almost chuckled.

“- Yeah… Remember when I took you back to the orphanage ? I told you I lost my hearing… Well, my hearing aids died ten minutes ago…”

The kid suddenly blushed, realizing what he had said and declared, slowly, to be sure the veteran would understand:

“- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you…”

“-You don’t have to apologize kiddo, replied Clint with a weak smile. I shouldn’t have lost myself in my thoughts. Let’s just take care of your sister, okay ?”

The kid quickly nodded and ran back toward his sister. The sniper sat on the edge of the bed. Taking his time, so he didn’t scare the girl, he put his arm around her shoulders. She jumped a little but then accepted the hug.

“- It’s gonna be okay, Wanda”, whispered Clint. “I’m here. I’m never going to leave you.”

He kept on saying reassuring things, even though he couldn’t hear himself talking, until he felt the girl’s breathing slowing down. He looked at her face and saw that she had fallen asleep on his shoulder. The man quietly indicated Pietro to go back to bed. After one one last look for his sister, the boy exited the room. As slowly and gently as he could, Clint got free of the girl’s embrace. She quietly protested in her sleep, but fortunately didn’t wake up.  
Getting out of the kid’s room, Barton leaned down against the wall. This was hard. Harder than what he thought it would be. But he had to carry on. He had to be there for the kids. He shook his head, trying to get a hold on his thoughts. He had to find new batteries for his hearing aids. He got back to his room and opened his drawer. He only had two batteries left. That meant he had to go buy more in the morning… But for now he especially needed to sleep… He was exhausted and tomorrow would probably be a veeeery long day...


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluffy chapter ! Leave a kudo if you liked it and a comment to help me improve my writing !  
> Thanks  
> Hawkeye_girl

As expected, the next day wasn’t a really calm day… Come on Clint, what did you think would happen if you put a hyperactive kid into a supermarket ? Fortunately he had Wanda. Every time her brother started running in the alleys, she would go find him since Clint couldn’t run with his injured leg… But it took him a long time to choose some clothes for the kids. Pietro instantly fell in love with a blue shirt with a silver bolt on it and wanted to buy seven of them so that he had one for each day of the week.

“-It’s going to make me super fast, Clint !”

“- You are already super fast, Pietro…”, sighed the veteran. “We can take this shirt, but you need to take different ones in case you don’t like this one anymore.”

The blue-eyed kid looked angry for a second but Wanda put a soothing hand on his shoulder, which seemed to calm him down a bit. The little girl hadn’t said a word since she woke up, still shaken up by her nightmare. And frankly, Clint could understand that… Seeing the ones you love getting murdered right in front of you… It could tear apart a grown-up man. God knows what it could do to a child.

“- I like this one !” the boy suddenly exclaimed, holding a deep blue shirt with silver stripes.

“- You just really like silver and blue, don’t you ?” chuckled the soldier.

The boy nodded enthusiastically. Meanwhile, Wanda was contemplating a cute red dress. Clint slowly got closer to her and whispered, careful not to scare her:

“- Do you like this dress ?”

The brunette’s face lightened up and she gave Barton a small nod. The veteran felt a small smile forming on his lips. He gently took the girl’s hand a gave it a little reassuring squeeze.

“- I love you very much. You know that, right ?”

“- I do…” replied the small trembling voice of the kid.

This time, Clint’s smile was so big that his cheeks hurt. He turned around to check on Pietro… who had just disappeared in one of the store’s alleys. The veteran sighed and looked at Wanda.

“- Well… Looks like we have to find your brother… Again…”

The girl chuckled a little and Clint felt his heart exploding. Then she grabbed the man’s hand and started moving forward. The man was so surprised by the unexpected contact that he didn’t immediately move, which stopped Wanda dead in her tracks. She turned around with questioning eyes, but Clint simply shrugged and started walking.   
They found the boy a few minutes later, who came running towards them, holding something in his hand.

“- You said you needed some batteries for your hearing aids ! I found you some ! Now can we go back home ? I want to play on the trampoline. Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease !!!”

Barton looked at the bouncing boy in front of him.

“- It doesn’t look like you need a trampoline to make you jump…”, declared the veteran, before stopping. Did he just say a joke ? 

He looked at Pietro who was still waving the batteries and bouncing. He took them before saying:

“-Thank you Pietro, you are really kind. Let’s go back home where you can jump on an ACTUAL trampoline.”

“- Yes ! You have the coolest house ever, Clint !”

Hearing her brother, Wanda nodded frantically. In the morning she had found Lila’s collection of books -God, how she loved reading- and had started to process into reading all of them. It had been quite a challenge to take her to go to the store… But she had given up seeing her brother enthusiast about having new clothes. Everything they had at the orphanage was either too old or too big… And now they were leaving the store with soooo many new clothes. The kids couldn’t believe their eyes. They never had this much before.  
And then they stopped for food. Clint took so much food compared to what they bought when they were in the orphanage ! Wanda looked like she didn’t know how to blink anymore. Pietro was standing still (how amazing), his mouth wide open. As the kids started to get angry, they got back in the car.  
Once home, the kids completely forgot the trampoline, in order to cook the lunch with Clint.

“- It will go faster that way”, explained Wanda innocently.

And it did indeed go faster. And especially thanks to Pietro. The boy wasn’t just a fast runner. He was a fast everything. Lunch got ready in no time and soon they were all sitting around the table, enjoying a well-deserved meal.


	12. Chapter 12

The kids had barely finished eating when they heard a knock on the door. That made Clint jump: nobody ever knocked on the door. Every person he knew had stopped coming after this incident, not knowing how to act near the depressed alcoholic veteran. Even when some people came to see how Barton was doing, he just didn’t answer, only wanting to be left alone.  
Having someone at the door was then a strange thing. PTSD kicking in, Clint tried not to panic and took several deep breaths in order to calm down and slow down his heartbeat. He could not freak out. Not right now, in front of the kids. He was not in the battlefield anymore. He was not a soldier anymore. Maybe the person at the door was not a threat.... But what if it was effectively a threat ?

“- Wanda, Pietro, go upstairs while I check on who is here”, demanded the soldier in a blank tone, like he was giving military orders that couldn’t be discussed.

A little worried, the kids headed towards the stairs. The adult looked scary. They were even more worried when they saw their parental figure taking a gun from inside a cupboard out of reach for the kids. Clint went silently next to the front door, firmly holding his weapon, looking menacing.  
Still in the staircase, Wanda started to shake and to hyperventilate. But Clint was too focused on his mission to notice anything else. Pietro, who had gotten upstairs, quickly got back down and held his sister’s hand, in order to comfort her. It seemed to do the trick. The boy took Wanda in a tight hug, so that she wouldn’t see what was going on downstairs. He didn’t like this situation one bit, but he had to be strong. He wanted to run away. This brought back too many bad memories. But he had to stay strong. For Wanda.  
Barton was ready to open the door violently when he heard a small voice:

“- Is this the house of Mister Clint Barton ?”

A kid. It was a stupid kid who could get killed, walking on this battlefield like that. Where the hell were his parents ?

“- I’m Vision. I’m from the orphanage, Miss Romanov gave me your address so that I can see Wanda… Can I come in ?”

Wanda ? Clint suddenly broke out of his trance. Everything came back to him. He was not in the battlefield, he was in his house, safe, with two kids he had just adopted. He was not a soldier anymore…  
God, the kids !

“- Wanda ? Pietro ? Are you safe ?” asked the veteran, genuinely worried.

He heard the small whimpers and walked as quickly as he could towards the staircase, cursing at himself and completely forgetting the kid waiting outside. When he arrived in front of Pietro and Wanda, she started to scream, terrified. That’s when Clint noticed he was still holding his gun. He quickly shoved it back into the cupboard and came back. The girl was still scared, he could read it on her face. Pietro looked really unsure about what to think. So the veteran muttered:

“- I’m sorry… What I did was very dangerous and stupid. You could have been hurt because of me. I thought we were in danger.”

Pietro slowly nodded, but Wanda still looked quite shocked. Clint then remembered what had started all this.

“- Wanda… There is a boy outside. He says his name is Vision and he wants to see you.”

That seemed to do the trick. The little girl rose her head and met the sniper’s sharp eyes. There was a small glitter of happiness on her face.

“- Vis ?”

“-Yes, Vis. He is waiting for you outside.”

Wanda got up and walked past Barton to rush to the door. Pietro, being the overprotective brother that he was, followed her close. They opened the front door and got outside. The boy was gone, probably thinking nobody was home since nobody had answered.

“-V… Vis…”

It looked like the girl was ready to burst in tears. Her lips started to tremble and her whole body was shaking. Clint bit his lips. If he hadn’t had this stupid reaction thanks to his PTSD, Wanda would have seen Vision. He looked at the end of the street and noticed a boy walking in the direction of the orphanage.

“- Wanda ! I see him ! He is at the end of the street !”

And before anyone had the time to say anything, Pietro started to run. In less than a minute, he had joined the other kid. Wanda was running too, wanting to join the boys as quickly as possible. Clint yelled:

“- Tell him he can come into the house !”

Wanda briefly nodded and joined the kids. The veteran could see they were all talking, and suddenly, they all began back towards him. Of course, Pietro arrived first. Vision could have arrived second, but he waited for Wanda, who was a bit out of breath after a previous sprint. On the contrary, Pietro seemed reinvigorated by all this running. When all the kids arrived, Clint took a better look at this boy named Vision. He had dirty blond hair and piercing blue eyes, and especially an oval birthmark on his forehead. Him and Wanda were holding hands in the cutest possible way.

“- Hi, sir”, politely said the boy. “I’m Vision.”

With that, he offered his hand for the veteran to shake it. The kid seemed very polite and nice.

“Perfect”, thought Clint. He wasn’t going to let his kids hang out with rude children. Yeah, maybe he was a little overprotective… But hey, he had screwed up with his previous kids. He wasn’t going to let bad things happen to these ones ! Barton then followed the kids into the house, ready to redeem himself after his attitude earlier.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I got an idea !  
> Since I'm getting closer and closer to 100 kudos (how ?) I wanted to write a special chapter when this happens. So I'm letting you decide. What should I write in this specific chapter ? Clint adopting another kid ? Clintasha date ? One of the kids getting hurt and Clint losing his s*it because of it ?  
> Your choice, let me know in the comments what you want !  
> Love you !  
> Hawkete_girl

The sniper smiled a bit, watching the three kids playing together in the garden. Pietro had found Cooper’s old soccer ball stuck in a bush and he had thrown himself into it, without thinking, to find the ball. He had now small cuts on his face and hands, but that didn’t seem to bother him. Wanda and Vision had been playing with him for a bit, but had become tired and were now walking and chatting while Pietro was still having fun playing football.  
Vision and Wanda seemed really close and the little girl appeared to be a talkative girl when confident enough. The boy was looking at her in pure awe and listening very carefully to everything she had to say. It had taken a little time for the kids to start playing once they arrived in the garden, but now they were super excited and, from what Clint could see, very happy. He even realized that Wanda seemed happier now that Vision was here and totally understood why the kid at the orphanage named Tony had called Vision Wanda’s boyfriend. The two kids, Barton had to admit, were really cute together.

“- Cliiiiiiint…”, suddenly whined Pietro. “I’m bored…”

“- But you were having fun playing football, Pietro, weren’t you ?” asked the confused veteran.

“- I don’t wanna play football anymore…”

“- Maybe you can walk and chat with your sister and Vision ?”

“- Don’t like walking and I’m sure Wanda doesn’t want me to go with her while she is with her boyfriend…”

Clint scratched his head, not really sure about what to answer to this. He opened his mouth when Pietro ran away, yelling:

“- I’m going on the trampoline !”

The veteran shook his head, trying not to laugh. Impulsive behavior… Maybe he should some research about hyperactivity, to have a better understanding of it. And he should definitely register the kid for race classes. That would give him some activity during the week. He took a look at his watch. It was late, time for Vision to go back to the orphanage. He was going to call him when he noticed the boy running toward him.

“- Excuse me, sir, is that your tractor in the barn over there ?”  
Clint suddenly remembered that this building was unlocked and had a lot of pretty dangerous tools in it. He started walking toward it while answering the kid:

“- Yeah, it’s a John Deere, but I don’t use it anymore. Why ?”

He put the padlock on the door while the boy answered:

“- We are building a rocket with two of my friends, sir. And I noticed your truck has some pieces that we might need to make it work… Would you mind if… If we dismantled your tractor and.. took some pieces ?”

Clint looked at the boy in disbelief. He looked like he was seven, maybe eight years old, and he knew what pieces he needed to build a rocket ? This trio, Vision, Tony and Bruce, was such a concentrate of intelligence ! The soldier noticed the kid looking at him with big pleading eyes and chuckled.

“- Okay”, he answered. But he stopped the kid before he could say anything else. “But you will take this pieces under my supervision. Not that I don’t trust you, but I don’t want you to get hurt, understand ?”

The boy nodded rapidly before declaring:

“- Thank you, sir.”

“- No problem, kiddo”, replied the veteran with a wink. “Now let’s take you back to the orphanage, okay ?”

Convincing Wanda that Vision needed to go back to the orphanage was quite a challenge for the older man. When she finally accepted it, her eyes were full of tears and she was staring at the ground. Clint hated himself for doing this and felt his heart melting at this sight.

“- He can come again, whenever he wants, Wanda”, assured the soldier. “You will see him soon again, okay ?”

That seemed to cheer up a bit the little girl.

“- And we are even going to take him back to the orphanage together. You can say goodbye once we got there.”

Wanda’s head rose suddenly.

“- For real ?”

“- For real”, smiled the veteran, who was also secretly hoping to see a certain red-headed woman at the orphanage...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you mean you have read that far and you haven't left a comment ? What are you waiting for ? ;p


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting closer and closer to 100 kudos and I only got one request ! So for now, the special chapter is probably going to be a Clintasha date (unless I got other requests, of course)  
> Anyway, here is another chapter ! Have fun, don't forget to comment and to leave a kudo, trust me, it's ALWAYS appreciated !  
> Love you !  
> Hawkeye_girl

A few minutes later, and the little family, plus Vision was arriving at the orphanage. Pietro, who had “surprisingly” arrived first, pushed the rusty portal and got inside of the orphanage. There were less kids outside than when Clint first went, but there were still some children playing. When they noticed the three kids, they all immediately ran toward them.

“- We missed you !”, declared a young boy with… with a huge tarantella on his shoulder ? “May was very sad when you left…”, he added while gently stroking the spider’s back.

“-Well, I didn’t miss her”, whispered Wanda, who took Clint’s hand to reassure herself.

The veteran squeezed the girl’s hand, but didn’t feel so good either… Fortunately, another boy called the kid:

“- Hey, Peter, come here, I found another anthill !”

“- On my way, Scott !”, replied the boy apparently named Peter before running toward his friend.

“- Can we go now, Clint ? We took Vision back...”, asked Wanda, still looking at Peter in a very suspicious way.

“- Uuuuh… Yeah, uh… I’m just going to say hi to Miss Romanov, okay kiddo ? Like that, you can spend more time with Vision, that’s great, isn’t it ?”, answered the sniper, slightly blushing.

Wanda cast a last disgusted look toward the spider before joining her friend, who was rapidly chatting with Bruce and Tony. Barton looked at all those kids. They were all so cute and he felt an overwhelming sense of overprotectiveness toward all this children. Shaking his head, he got inside of the building.  
The veteran quickly found back the way to Natasha’s office and he was about to knock on the door when he heard people yelling.

“- I already told you that if you keep raising the charges, I won’t be able to pay you !”, declared a pissed-off but calm feminine voice.

“- I need money to survive !”, replied a masculine voice, shouting.

“- Survive ?”, scoffed the first voice, as if the person saying that couldn’t believe it. But nothing came after that, as if they knew they couldn’t fight that battle. Not because they weren’t strong enough, but because they didn’t have enough leverage… Clint chose this moment of relative calmness to knock on the door. He wasn’t going to let this chinny guy ruin the amazing woman’s life !

“- Come in…”, answered a tired voice.

Someone opened the door and Clint came face to face with this dear Mister Thanos… He looked as mad as the last time Barton had seen it but this time he spent more time studying the sniper’s face, who didn’t like that one bit.

“- You are Barton, right ? Clint Barton ?”

“- Yes, sir.”, replied the veteran, as politely as he could.

“- I heard you adopted two kids ? They are a real pain in the ass, aren’t they ?”, continued Thanos, with a grin on his face. A grin that Clint only wanted to erase by a good punch in the jaw.

“- Actually”, replied the ex-soldier, trying to stay as calm as possible, “ I find them quite nice and I’m really happy to have adopted them. It’s important to keep children away from abusers,you know…”

With that, he stared at the man standing in front of him, who only held his gaze for a minute before storming out of the room.

“- Jeez, thanks ! I thought I would never get rid of him !”, declared the red-headed girl as soon as they were alone.

“- Meh…”, replied Barton. “You would have handled it just fine without me.”, he chuckled honestly.

“- Probably...”, grinned Natasha. “But the way you put him in his place ? That was brilliant !”

“- He needed it”, assured the veteran, smiling.

He wanted to offer the pretty woman to pay for the orphanage but he was pretty sure she would never accept it, being the proud girl that she was.

“- Can I help you with something, Clint ?”, asked the wonderful woman with a small smile that made explode the soldier’s heart.

“- Uuuuh, I…”, Barton started to stutter. Do you want to go to the restaurant with me tonight was what he wanted to say but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out.

“- Are the kids okay ?”, asked Natasha, starting to get worried.

“- Yeah, yeah, they are perfectly fine !”, replied Clint. “Actually, I was just taking Vision back to the orphanage after his day spent with Pietro and Wanda. They had fun together and he, Tony and Bruce are probably going to come back to the farm to work on their rocket. My tractor interests them…”

“- Oh, that’s great !”, declared the woman. “Maybe I could take them with me tomorrow ?”

“- Tomorrow ?”, replied a confused Barton.

“- I am supposed to come every week to check on the kids, remember ?” Natasha let out a laugh that sounded like music to Clint’s damaged ears.

“- Oh, uh, yeah, I guess”, the veteran answered rapidly. “I… I’ll see you tomorrow !”

With that, Barton got out of the room, wanting to slap himself. Why did he have to be so shy ? Why didn’t he just ask Natasha out ? Why was he such a stupid coward ? But anyway… Tomorrow was another day. Maybe then, Clint would finally make the move...


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys !  
> You know what ? I hurt my foot ! So now, I'm walking just like Clint in my fic... Sucks...  
> Don't forget to leave a kudo and a comment !  
> And if you have an idea for the special chapter, tell me !  
> Love you  
> Hawkeye_girl

Natasha was going to come to Clint’s house at 10am. That’s probably why Clint woke up at 6am and wasn’t able to fall back asleep… Getting up as silently as he could, he headed towards the kitchen and made some coffee. As he poured the hot liquid into his mug, he wondered what it would be like if Pietro drank coffee… It was probably a good idea to keep the kid away from that kind of drink. He was energetic enough without caffeine.  
The veteran quickly finished his breakfast and headed towards the bathroom. After a quick shower, he felt a bit more relaxed, but he was still a bit nervous about the day that was coming. Looking at his face in the mirror, he tried to reassure himself.  
“Come on, Clint ! Just ask her: do you want to have dinner with me ? It’s not that hard ! You did it before !”  
Laura’s face flashed in his eyes and he blinked quickly, not wanting to lose control today. It certainly wouldn’t be a good idea to call Natasha Laura… The sniper tried his best but he couldn’t help it. The memories came back at light speed.

 

Twenty years ago

“Come on, Clint ! It’s last day of highschool ! You may never see her again, this is your last chance !”  
The voices of his friends kept turning in Barton’s head. For the last day of highschool, Laura Clarke had organized the biggest party ever and all the class had been invited. It was a known fact that the cool guy Clint Barton had a crush on her. According to some people, even Laura knew it but pretended not to, because she thought it was funny.  
It was around midnight and most of the ex-high schoolers were drunk. But not Laura, because, as the host, she wanted to make sure everyone was not doing stupid things while being drunk, and not Clint, who didn’t really like alcohol, thanks to his dear father, who had taken comfort in alcohol after his wife’s death, and who had the bad habit of punching Clint whenever something was bothering him…  
So basically, about two persons were not drunk that night and it happened to be Clint and Laura. At some point, the young man, looking for his friends, saw the girl. She seemed lonely, leaning over a wall. Clint stared at her for a few seconds, but then, gathering all of his courage, he walked towards her. When she noticed him, a small smile appeared on her lips. Clint scratched the back of his head, as always when he was nervous, and asked:

“- Do you… Do you want to go outside ? It’ a bit noisy here, isn’t it ?”

Laura’s smile got a bit wider as she nodded. She quickly led the way as Clint followed her. Outside, the sky was full of shining stars, and the fresh air made Laura shiver. Immediately, Clint took off his jacket and offered it to the girl. She took it happily while looking at the sky. Suddenly, Laura raised her arm.

“- Look ! A shooting star. Make a wish.”, she asked, looking at Clint.

Barton thought it was a bit cliché but still thought:

“ I wish I have the guts to ask Laura out…”

As Laura looked at him, he couldn’t help noticing the sparkle in the teenager’s eyes, while her long brown hair was falling on her shoulders. She asked, half laughing:

“- Did you make your wish ?”

“- Yeah…”, replied Clint, awkwardly. Jesus, why was he the coolest guy in highschool but couldn’t dare asking a girl out ?

Laura stayed silent a few minutes but when she realized Clint wasn’t going to say anything else, she turned to go back into the house, and the future sniper noticed the tears in her eyes.

“- Wait !”, he suddenly yelled.

He ran to catch up on Laura, and when she looked at him, he declared:

“- Willyougoonadatewithme ?”

“- What ?”

“- Will you… Will you go on a date with me ?”, Clint asked again, slower.

“- Looks like my wish is coming true…”, laughed Laura, after looking at the boy for a few seconds.

Clint felt like his heart had just stopped. He stuttered:

“- Wait… You… Your wish…”

He got stopped when he felt soft lips on his owns and everything around him seemed to stop. The noises from the party, the people chatting,... Everything stopped. There was just Laura, kissing him. When the kiss stopped, Barton suddenly realized that if he didn’t breathe right now, he would pass out. That would probably be awkward for a first kiss…  
That’s when he heard it. The clapping. Everyone was clapping and cheering around them, Clint’s friends louder than the rest of the crowd.

“- Did everyone had to see that ?”, grunted Clint, joking.

“- I thought you were the cool popular guy who is afraid of nothing ?”

“- I’m terrified of girls…”, declared Clint, looking very serious.

Laura laughed warming Clint’s heart, before she kissed her again, causing the crowd to cheer even more.

 

Present day

Clint wiped away the tears on his cheeks. He couldn’t do it. He was not the popular cool guy anymore. He was just a broken man with PTSD. There was no way he would be able to ask Natasha out. She didn’t deserve a man like him. She deserved a man that could make her happy…

“- Cliiiint ? I’m hungryyyyy....”

Pietro’s voice bring the veteran back to reality. He rubbed his eyes and got out of the bathroom. The boy was jumping up and down, while her sister were looking t the sniper in a strange way.

“- Hey kids ! Let’s have breakfast !”, declared Clint, trying to control his voice.

“- Yeaaaah !”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uuuuuh... Hey ?  
> YEAH I KNOW IT'S BEEN TWO MONTHS PLEASE DON'T KILL ME !  
> Sorry  
> So so sorry  
> Anyway, we got past 100 kudos so, special chapter coming ! It will be in two chapters and it will be a clintasha date, as requested by DawnRain_776 !  
> Enjoy and don't forget to leave a kudo and acomment if you liked this chapter !  
> Hawkeye_girl

The kids had barely finished their breakfast when Pietro asked Clint if he could go play outside.

“- Pietro, you are wearing pajamas…”

“- So ?”, asked the boy innocently.

“- You can’t go outside wearing only pajamas.”, replied the veteran, trying not to laugh.

“- But whyyyyyyy ?”, whined the kid.

“- If you keep arguing, you won’t have time to play outside before Nat… before Miss Romanov gets here.”, explained the soldier. “So go put on some clothes. Your grey and blue shirt with a lightning for example !”

One second later, Pietro was gone. And less than five minutes later, he was back, fully dressed, while Wanda was still finishing her breakfast, half asleep.

“- Can I go play now, Clint ?”, asked the enthusiastic boy, bouncing.

“- Yeah, okay, go”, chuckled the sniper.

And then again, one second later, he was gone. A few minutes later, Wanda finished her meal, got upstairs to get dressed and got out to join her brother, who had somehow decided that playing football on a trampoline was a totally sensible thing to do…  
Clint looked fondly at the kids for a few minutes. Now he knew. He knew that he loved them so much he was ready to die for them. And he knew that he was ready to move on. He was going to ask Natasha to go on a date with him.

 

“- Cliiiiint ? Miss Romanov is here !”

Okay, all things considered, he was not ready.

Looking by the window, the veteran noticed the car in the alley. The red-headed woman was getting out of it, as were Tony, Bruce, and…

“- VISION !”, excitedly yelled Wanda, running to him.

“- Well, look who found their girlfriend !”, teased Tony with a grin.

Clint got out of the house to welcome his guests, trying not to blush as Natasha smiled at him.

“- Good morning, Clint !”

“- Hi, Natasha”, shyly replied the sniper.

“- Good morning, sir”, greeted the three boys altogether.

“- Hey boys ! So, do you want to see that tractor and take what you need ?”

“- YES !”, yelled Tony excitedly while Bruce was happily nodding.

The veteran started leading the way toward the barn while Natasha was asking:

“- So, is everything alright for you two, Pietro and Wanda ?”

“- This place is so cool”, the boy started, rambling excitedly. “There is a trampoline and the garden is sooo big and there is a soccer ball and Clint bought us new clothes and Wanda found books and she already read half of them and…”

“- Calm down, Pietro”, chuckled the woman. “Take your time.”

“- We are really happy here”, agreed Wanda with a small smile.

Smiling to himself, Clint opened the barn and stepped inside, followed closely by the kids. Immediately, Tony, Bruce and Vision rushed to the tractor and started chatting excitedly about it.

“- Look at the air filter !”, suddenly yelled Tony. It’s good as new !”

“- Same for the contactor !”, added Bruce.

“- We already have one”, declared Vision. “But having another one could still be useful…”

The two other kids were totally amazed by what their friends were doing while the two adults were fondly looking at all of them.  
A few minutes later the three kids were done. They carefully packed everything they needed before approaching the veteran.

“- Thank you sir.”, said Vision, while the two other boys were nodding. “With your help, our rocket will probably be more efficient than we thought it would be !”

“- It was my pleasure !”, replied Clint honestly. “You can come back anytime you want !”

Wide smiles appeared on the boys’ faces as they thanked the veteran one more time. They were heading back towards the car with Natasha when the soldier called:

“- May I… May I talk to you, Natasha ? In private ?”

The red-headed girl looked a bit surprised but quickly nodded and followed Barton into the house as the kids were waiting outside. Once inside the house, Clint took a deep breath before declaring, blushing:

“- Would you go to the restaurant with me tomorrow night ?”


End file.
